This one seems to be spreading everywhere online, but in case it hasn’t gotten to you I thought I’d share:

The investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with a fisher docked.

Inside the small boat were several large fish. The banker complimented the fisher on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisher replied, “Only a little while.” The banker asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The fisher said, “With this I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.” The banker then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The fisher said, “I sleep late, play with my children, nap with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full life.”

The banker scoffed, “I have a degree in business and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several more boats and hire people to do the fishing for you. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually you could own your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to a big city to run an ever-expanding enterprise.”

The fisher asked, “But, how long would all this take?” The banker replied, “Fifteen to twenty years.” “But what then?” asked the fisher. The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time was right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions?… Then what?”

The banker said, “Then you would retire! Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, nap with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends. Think what a full life you would have!”